


Not as Things Seem

by Mini_Goat, ONeillwith2ls



Series: Bobbsey Chronicles [4]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twins, F/M, Family Feels, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23964601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mini_Goat/pseuds/Mini_Goat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/pseuds/ONeillwith2ls
Summary: Sam returns to her own reality discovers quantum physics might not work the way she thought.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Series: Bobbsey Chronicles [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727761
Comments: 50
Kudos: 63





	1. And So it Begins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ONeillwith2ls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/gifts).



> Bobbsey Chronicles collaboration with O’Neillwith2ls. Some events of Continuum are altered to fit the AU. This piece might get additional chapters. Or it might be a separate work later.

**And So it Begins**

Two things decided her. Well, three but one was part of another. She had been horrified when she’d gotten out of the puddle jumper in front of herself, only to see herself shatter and disintegrate in entropic cascade. But why the original her and not the her now? Had returning meant the previous self was no longer the valid timeline?

Sam sighed. May as well get this over with. If she didn’t tell him now, he’d either find out because he wanted to attend the debriefing or by reading her report later and she really couldn’t do that to him. He was already going to be devastated.

“Jack...” she said tentatively. He was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. There were still a lot of details for him to hammer out with Hank and the Tok’ra.

“Wacha need Carter?” He said with a small smile for her until he saw her expression. “What’s wrong Sam?”

Sam sighed and sat on their bed.

“Carter…” He sat down next to her and took her hand in his. “Talk to me.”

“Oh Jack.” She sobbed and buried her face against his chest.

Jack wrapped his arms around her not knowing what was wrong. “I’ve got you.” He murmured into her hair and hugged her tightly.

After she’d calmed down some Jack kissed her gently. “All right. What was that all about?”

“Jack… I was pregnant.”

“Was as in… no longer…?” He said sadly. They had been trying before she left for Atlantis and had tried again but apparently she’d miscarried. His heart broke for her. He knew how much she’d wanted to give him another child.

Sam nodded miserably and it all came spilling out. His death, yelling for her to go through the gate without him… Cameron almost picking her up and dragging her through the Stargate to an alternative timeline, one where the Stargate never made it to the States, one where Sam had joined the space program, and died there, one where the alternate Jack who still had his son but who had slowly become bitter and cold anyway. How the depression and heartache had led to a miscarriage at the beginning of her second trimester. Holding the tiny body of the child they had made before burying her in a shoe box in the flower bed with the unfinished baby blanket she’d started for her. All of it.

He held her the whole time and when she’d finally told him all of it, he tilted her chin up. “Sam. It’s not the end of the world. I know this hurts. I’m glad you told me. You shouldn’t have to carry this by yourself.” He kissed her gently. “When you’re ready, if you still want to, we’ll try again, all right?”

She nodded sadly.

“Come on, let’s go see Hank and get this debriefing over with. We still have a snake to get rid of.”

“All right.” Sam said, sighing. Not sure if she could make the trip again, it had after all, proven fatal the last time.

* * *

“So when you came back you… the other you… succumbed to catastrophic entropic cascade?” Hank asked her.

“She knew what was happening to her.” Sam said sadly.

“Why the original Sam and not you though?” Hank asked bewildered.

“Because _she is_ the original Sam.” Jack said.

“Huh?” Hank asked him.

“When she returned, she, quantumly speaking, was the original, so the Sam that was already here no longer had primary claim on this reality.” Jack looked at Sam for confirmation.

Sam nodded, then her eyes widened and she was stumbling to the wastepaper bucket where she promptly vomited.

“Sam!” Jack said alarmed and went to her. “Infirmary.” He ordered her.

* * *

Carolyn was holding the papers for Sam’s bloodwork. “Well… I’m reading this and I know what you told me but Sam… You’re pregnant.”

“But…” she started feeling a mixture of relief, confusion and complete joy. Alone in the alternative timeline she had gasped when the second pink line appeared confirming she was pregnant. How was she ever going to explain to her child that their biological father wasn’t in fact their father? The alternative Air Force had pounced on her when they saw she had checked into an ObGYN. Sam hadn’t mentioned anything of a personal life in their grilling interviews, who was the father? Was he alive in this reality? Did she intend on telling him, involving him, contacting him? She never breathed a word to them, none of them could be trusted with her husband's child.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” Jack asked.

“By the numbers, I’d say about four weeks along.”

“But that’s how far along I was before I…” Sam trailed off trying to figure out what happened. Her miscarriage had slipped her further into depression, had it not been for the alternative Jack, she was pretty sure she never would have survived the year of hell, never mind got back to her correct timeline.

“What if when one of you goes poof, it’s because you combine back into one person?” Jack said thoughtfully.

Sam looked at Jack. “I think you’re right.”

“I am?”

Sam nodded.

“Good thing we sent that other Sam home the first time. That could have gotten awkward.”

“Wasn’t she…”

“Yup.”

“Dad would have killed you.”

“Yup.”

Sam started to giggle. “Congratulations Jack.”

“For what?”

“You’re going to be a dad.”

Jack sat down with a woof. “I am.” He said, looking blown away.

* * *

As steep as the hills on the roller coaster of his day had gone, Jack was in for another blow to his reality.

“Carolyn… I had an ultrasound before my miscarriage. I saw the sonogram myself. There was only one baby.” Sam insisted. She’d planned to name her Janet and had felt like she’d doomed her daughter with that name. The other Jack had given his condolences about her loss but she was certain he’d been secretly relieved just as her Jack had been about Laira not getting pregnant.

“Well, it looks like quantum mechanics doesn’t care Sam.”

Jack was sitting in the corner scrubbing his face with his hand. Trying to wrap his brain about this latest turn. “Two of them.” He said. He’d have two little Sams. Suddenly he broke out in a huge grin. “I better start looking for a bigger house.”

Sam and Carolyn just looked at him rather comically. Carolyn holding the ultrasound wand in her hand while Sam lay on the examination table.

Carolyn looked at Sam. “Is this how he always is?”

“Well, usually his planning involves blowing things up but yes.”

Carolyn shrugged and laughed. “Let’s get you some baby pictures, Sam, then you guys can go home. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”

Sam put her hand on her still flat stomach. “One of many.”

“Two of them.” Jack murmured seemingly to himself. “Two mini Sams.”


	2. A Rose by any other Name

They sat around the kitchen table laughing and eating Jack’s homemade omelets. Sans beer in Sam’s. The whole gang was there, Teal’c, Daniel, Vala who had at some point scooted into Daniel’s lap, Cam, Cassie who was home from school for the summer, and Sam and Jack. Jack was still at the stove fiddling with an omelet with extra beer for himself and what Sam described as a concerning quantity of cheese.

“So what’s the occasion, kids?” Cameron asked Sam and Jack who did have everyone over now and again but breakfast seems a bit out of character for them unless it was to accommodate Teal’c before he left again.

Sam glances at Jack who’s bringing his now burnt breakfast to the table and blushes a little. “We… ah… have a little announcement.” Sam hedged.

Vala and Cassie look at each other then grin. None of the guys seems to know what’s going on except Teal’c who is leaning against a wall with a knowing smile on his face.

“Is this a joke? I already know you guys are married to each other.” Cam says mutinously. Jack and Sam had tricked him for nearly a full year before he finally caught on that Jack wasn’t cheating on his new wife by flirting with Sam on base when he visited.

Jack cracks a grin. That had been a great joke. He’d had Hank going for a while too on that one. In fact if Hank hadn’t kicked Sam out of her own bed at the cabin he might still not know.

“No, this one isn’t a joke, Cam.” Sam told him reassuringly.

Vala was bouncing with suppressed giddiness “Oh, just tell us already.” It was pretty obvious to Sam that she’d already guessed.

“Vala, your ass is bony as hell.” Daniel grumbled.

Cassie snickered and snagged a piece of bacon. “Yah Saaammm... tell us.”

“I’m pregnant.” Sam told them almost shyly.

Daniel and Cam looked at each other then at Teal’c as if accusing him of having already guessed. “You’re sure?” Cam asked.

“Very sure. Carolyn confirmed it two days ago.” Jack told them.

“Congratulations, O’Neill.” Teal’c said smiling. “And you as well, Samantha.”

“Thanks, T.” Jack says grinning, “But there’s more.”

“How much more can you have than pregna…. Ooohhhh!” Vala jumps up and pounces on Sam to engulf her in an enthusiastic hug.

The guys looked at each other again. “How do women do that?” Cam asked.

Jack’s smile hit full grin. “Sam is having twins.” He said smugly as though it was entirely his own doing.

“Congratulations, Jack. Your dick still works.” Daniel says sarcastically and Jack flips him off good naturedly.

“This is wonderful!” Vala says, still clearly excited.

“You guys are going to need a _lot_ of diapers.” Cassie told them.

“Yup, and two of everything. Do you know what their genders are yet?” Cam asked.

Jack shook his head. “Sam is only about four weeks along so we won’t know the genders for a while. We could really use help coming up with extra names though.”

“Do not worry, Samantha, I will handle the purchase of your cribs.” Teal’c told Sam.

“I can afford stuff, guys.” Jack grumbled. Of all of them he made the most pay, even Daniel though Danny probably didn’t know that, Jack thought.

“It is my honor to buy them however, O’Neill.” Teal’c admonishes Jack.

Sam chuckles. “All right, Teal’c, I’ll pick out something we like and send you an e-mail.” She tells him.

“Oh! I’ve got a pair of names!” Vala said gleefully.” What about Edward and Bella?”

Cassie looked at Vala horrified. “My cousins will _not_ be named after crappy Twilight characters!”

“If the twins are to be one of each gender perhaps Luke and Leia would be an excellent choice.” Teal’c suggests and no one but Jack and Sam can tell he’s actually joking. Jack plays along though.

“Cause that story ended well.” Jack says sarcastically.

“You have not turned to the dark side, O’Neill.” Teal’c says with a small ironic bow.

Daniel chuckles. “Good one Teal’c. I don’t suppose you’d want culturally significant names? Because I was thinking Taiwo and Kehinde aren’t gender specific and represent joy and happiness.” He tells them smiling.

“First… nothing that sounds even vaguely Goa’uld, Danny.” Jack said and nudged Sam’s arm because she was trying not to laugh. “What?”

“He’s yanking your chain, Jack.”

Jack gives Daniel a hard look.

Daniel smirks.

“Good one, sunshine.” Cam tells him and raises his glass of OJ to Daniel. “How about Wendy and Marvin?”

“I’m not sure about Marvin but Wendy is pretty.” Sam says but Jack shakes his head hard. “What?”

“I’m not naming them after the Wonder Twins.”

“Nuts.” Cam says under his breath.

The room erupts in laughter.

“What about you, Cass? So far all you’ve done is shoot down ideas.” Jack tells her.

Cassie thinks for a little bit. “When I was little mom told me if she’d had a daughter the old fashioned way, she was going to name her Grace. I think if you have boys you should name one of them after your dad. Grandpa Jake was awesome.” She looks up at Sam. “What?”

Everyone is now looking at Sam who has a very very spooked look on her face. Jack is the only one who knows the story and about the miscarriage but she never told Jack the girl’s name.

“This is kind of a long story so I’ll try to give the short version. When I was on the Prometheus when it got trapped in that nebula, I hallucinate a lot because of a concussion. Teal’c first then Daniel, Dad and Jack, but there was also a little girl who I didn’t know but she seemed awfully familiar. She… ah… looked and acted a lot like Jack actually. Daniel suggested she might be a manifestation of the cloud trying to communicate with me but I’m pretty sure the cloud was intradimensional.”

“Don’t you mean interdimensional, Sam?” Cam asked.

“Not in this case. As we saw when we were sent to that reality with a bunch of other SG-1s, the dimensions seem to be in groups. Some of us had remarkably similar experiences and others had more variation.”

“Oh! Like the one Sam that had a ten year old daughter with Jack and a one year old because they had a hook up years ago then got involved again later?” Cam says enthusiastically. He’d spent a lot of time gossiping with the other Cams while she had tried to help solve whatever had gone wrong.

“You had an affair with me?” Jack said, kind of shocked.

“Yah well you had just been dumped by your wife and Sam was mad at West for not letting her go to Abydos so he took her off the program in retaliation. Apparently you both got drunk at a bar and got it on.” Cam says amused. “She was really happy by the way.”

Sam and Jack look at each other oddly. Jack had gone to a bar the night he was reactivated because Sara had told him if he took the assignment he could forget about coming home. He’d been planning to eat a bullet. If Sam had shown up and hit on him in that condition he very likely would have slept with her.

“What were the kids names?” Jack finally asks.

“You know how I am. I didn’t think to ask and the other me didn’t think it was important.” Cam shrugs.

Sam rolls her eyes.

“Funny thing was one of the other Sam’s that was married got knocked up on accident too. About half the Sams that went to Groom Lake did so to kind of hide a pregnancy.” Cam tells them. “One of them didn’t even show up because she was on maternity leave.

Jack gives Sam a really mild look.

“Don’t look at me. I sat in my apartment guzzling wine and throwing darts at West’s face that night.”

Jack laughs. “Fair enough.” He agrees. “I know you said you were going to name the little girl Janet… would it feel all right to use a name she picked?” He asks Sam thoughtfully. He realized what she wasn’t saying about the girl she hallucinated, that it might have been a Grace from another dimension. Perhaps the daughter of the Sam she met with a ten year old, or even another from a very close grouping of realities.

“Would you be all right with that, Cass?” Sam asks the young woman.

“Sure. I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t. I think mom would really like it too.”

Sam smiles slightly. She didn’t want to go over the timeline changing the way it had because while she was pregnant again, a do-over as Jack would say, she’d been devastated by the loss of their first child. If the Goa’uld hadn’t been coming, Sam could have started to make a life with that other, broken Jack who at the end, had started to show signs of the man she knew and loved. She wished she could have done something to give Jack his oldest child and these as well but there seemed to be no middle ground in her reality. Perhaps another Sam had managed it.

“How about Deborah if it’s two girls?” Jack suggested.

Sam smiled and wiped away a tear. She looked embarrassed but Jack waved it off. “It’s just hormones. Get used to it.” He said in amusement.

“Oh goodie.” Sam said and chuckled.

“I like Jacob for a boy’s name but we need a second one, just in case.” Jack says.

“I like the idea of naming one of them after dad too. He’d be so happy for us.”

“He really would.” Jack thinks for a while. “I got my middle name from my uncle. I don’t want to name my boy after my dad, but what about my grandpap, mom’s dad Harry? Well, Harold.”

Sam thinks about it for a while. “All right.” She agrees. It’s a bit old fashioned but so were they sometimes.

“All right so we’ve got Grace and Deborah and Jacob and Harold. If you get one of each you should just roll those names together, then you won’t end up with lame middle names Samantha Marie.” Cam tells her.

“My middle name is _not_ lame.” Sam huffs. She and Cam crack up. It had been a weird conversation in basic that lead to him teasing her about her boring middle name. “At least we aren’t picking a name some relative is using.”

“In Bub’s defense, he wasn’t around when Kate named Sean. And honestly I’d never stick my kid with Angus.” Jack shudders.

“Your cousin was named after meat?” Cam asks.

Teal’c starts to laugh.

“Not initially.” Jack grumbles.


	3. Always Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This week's episode brought to you by ONeillwith2ls :D who goes by O'Neillwiv2l's on FFN

“No, I don't! I don't have to understand anything! More importantly, I don't want to. As far as I'm concerned, you people are nothing but a pile of paperwork waiting to happen.” Jack O’Neill snapped.

The words, harsh and biting, chipped away at her internally. He might look like her Jack, but that is where the similarities end.

“Jack, please…” Daniel tried, ever the diplomat.

“And stop that!” Jack demanded. He looks at all of them for a moment then starts to go. “Jeez.” He muttered.

Sam knew she had to get through to him, if not on a personal level then a tactical one. “You should at least warn your superiors that this planet is in great danger.”

“I'll get right on that.” He said sarcastically, apparently not even that worked here, not before she heard some mumbled words and the words “--deal with these freaks.” Come from him.

“Jack.” She mumbled in her sleep waking him beside her.

_Two weeks later, she sat in the bathroom and watched as the strip turned from white to pink. She gasped and let out a painful cry._

_They had made a baby together and he wouldn’t be here to see it. Even if they did make it back to a Stargate, any Stargate, there was no guarantee they could make it back before the fatal shot which had killed her husband, and even if they did, what was she going to do to waddle through the Stargate and shoot her P-90 while pregnant? Not that she wouldn’t if it came to that._

_Her painful cry was an acknowledgement that her time was up. Ba’al had won and the world would be his, she’d have to endure the rest of her life in slavery and it would be all their child would know. SG-1 was not invincible. Her painful cry was for her husband, her lost love of her life._

_She laid flat on her back watching the ultrasound image of their child before her eyes, she had looked sadly at the image knowing she would need to pull herself around for the baby’s sake, but felt no urgent need to. After the appointment, she had pulled into the grocery stores car lot not knowing why she was there. She had wandered the aisles until she arrived at the breakfast cereal aisle and had reached for the “frooties”, the equivalent to froot loops in her world. She laughed as the urge to eat them became unbearable. She went to the counter, paid then got into her car opening it and eating them dry from the packet. She nodded and, for the first time, she put her hand to her stomach “You’re an O’Neill alright.” She said, ignoring the happy tears she was shedding._

_Then the painful reality of holding their child made with love in her hand when she miscarried. She fell deeper into depression in that moment, because all her hope was gone..._

“Sam.” She heard his voice. “Samantha, wake up, you're having a nightmare—" She heard him before her eyes snapped open.

“Jack!” she exclaimed in relief, her arms wrapping around him. “Oh my god… my baby--!” She panicked reaching for her still non-existent bump.

“Sam, it's okay, they’re safe, we’re all safe. It's okay.” He whispered to her. He lay them back down and let her wrap herself around him, his arms securing her in place. “It's over, Samantha. You’re not there anymore.”

“You’re here.” She whispered to him. “You’re here, Jack,” she chanted.

“You’re fine.” He whispered. “And you have our babies safe inside of you.”

She took a deep breath and snuggled into his neck, breathing in his scent. They lay for a few minutes before she whispered, “I craved Froot Loops.” She told him.

“What?” he asked, a little amused as he looked into her eyes.

“Last time with the baby, I craved Froot Loops.” She said looking up at him “I wonder if it’ll be the same this time.” She wondered “It’s both the same pregnancy and not.”

“Schrodinger’s pregnancy.” He joked.

She chuckled. “Ya.” She smiled. “Ya Froot Loops and steak—” she smiled “not together.” She shook her head. “Because that would be weird.”

She reached for the picture of the scan while Jack turned on the light “I kept telling her I knew she was an O’Neill because of what I craved.” She said quietly.

Jack put his arm back around his wife. “I’m sorry.” He apologized “This is something you never should have done alone.”

“I was so depressed, Jack.” Sam finally admitted. “I’d lost my husband and my timeline, I thought I would get them back, then I landed in a world where Charlie is alive.” She swallowed before she admitted “I drove out and watched the two of you for a few minutes one day, you know.”

Jack looked at her wide eyed, his eyes bright “Oh yeah?”

_Sam watched the house. She dared not make it closer than this and if her handlers figured she was here they’d accuse her of ‘making contact’ with O’Neill, but that didn’t keep her away, there was just this one thing she needed to see. Just one._

_She watched as he exited the house with his son, Jack smiling brightly. She sat up further and saw for the first time Charlie O’Neill._

“I remembered your clone, Jack, Charlie looked like him. Charlie looked like you.” She told him with a smile.

_It was only a couple of minutes the two men stood talking but then the older O’Neill handed the younger one a set of car keys, the younger O’Neill shrugged and smiled at his father before he headed for one of the cars parked outside. Sam wiped away a stray tear and nodded her head, happy with the resolve she had, she went to take a final look at the pair only to realize she was so busy watching the younger O’Neill she didn’t see where the older one went._

_“Damn, I lost him.” Sam muttered to herself before she started her engine, but she realized it was too late when Jack O’Neill opened the door to her car and slid in._

_“I’m pretty sure this is making contact.” O’Neill told her._

_“It wouldn’t be if you didn’t get in the car.” She retorted quickly. “I’m leaving, don’t worry you won’t hear from me again.” He didn’t budge, but stayed and looked at her with the same intense look which her Jack gave her, as if he were undressing her with his eyes, only this one wasn’t and she knew it, this Jack O’Neill made her angry when he looked at her now. “What?!” she snapped._

_“I get the stories, the ones you told the air force, I mean I kind of follow it.” He told her._

_“They aren’t stories.” She muttered but O’Neill wasn’t deterred._

_“So I get we were all part of this team, and close, I mean I don’t, but I didn’t live it, right?” he admits. “and I even get the Archaeologist spin on reality about Charlie and everything...”_

_“Daniel. His name is Daniel.” Sam grits her teeth._

_“What I don’t get is what kind of perverted thrill you get from seeing my dead son? The one you never knew.” He asked her, frowning._

_She sat silently hoping he would just get out the car if she stayed quiet long enough, but true to Jack O’Neill, he stayed put drilling into her more with his eyes. “I get why you didn’t want to hear it. I understand why you’d rather believe we were a collective bunch of liars then believe anything bad could happen to your family.” She told him. “I’m not here to spy on you or even to meet Charlie. I just… I wanted to see you—” she paused for a moment looking for the right words “—happy... without it being spoiled.” She took a deep breath “No-- I never knew you before it happened, so I never saw you smile like you did with him up there and since they made clear we’re not making it back to our world, and I was missing it so much—” she started her hand subconsciously brushing by what should have been her baby bump. “—but I thought, if I saw you happy like this—”_

She paused again "I didn’t want to reveal too much to them -- everything they knew about us they had used as a weapon, I didn’t want the you of that alternative timeline or my child to be used like that against me, if that Jack found out I had no guarantees.” She shrugged “So all through the interviews I did what you told me, skillfully avoiding admitting being married to my Jack O’Neill, all the time feeding the same lines I would to our military if questions were asked, never denying it but always not admitting the relationship.

He nodded in understanding, at least, the emotional impact it had on her.

_“I saw you happy just there and it makes it more bearable for me to live here, knowing you’re here, safe and happy—I think at least some good has come out of all this.” She said with a nod of her head, unseen to her because she wasn’t looking directly at him, his face had changed to one of amazement, there was something about the situation he knew he was missing but he couldn’t place his finger on it. “I’d never come to meet him against your wishes and you won’t ever hear from me again, I promise.” She tells him then she finally looks up and into his eyes “I’m glad you’re okay.” She manages before she wipes away some tears from her eyes. “If you could be kind enough not to reveal to my handlers I was here, it would be greatly appreciated and not a condition to me staying away, if you need to, you can tell them.” She whispers, he’s still staring amazed with no words coming from his mouth before she asks politely “Can you leave the car please?” she asks of him._

_He complies, not sure of what else to do. He watches as she pulls away and her car leaves the street._

Jack looked at her silently, tears stung behind his eyes. He safely wrapped her up in his arms. “I’m so sorry you were all alone.”

She looked at him sadly “Jack, even if you had made it through the gate, I doubt they would have let us be together.” She said quietly. “You would have been forcibly removed and detained for interrogation anyway.” She shrugged “In that timeline, we didn’t belong together.”

Jack shook his head. “There’s not a timeline in hell where I don’t fall in love with you the moment I lay my eyes on you.”

She chuckled “That’s not true.” She shook her head “I found it.”

Jack shook his head. “Is that the last time he saw you?” Jack asked her.

“Not exactly.”

_It was a few weeks later when she opened her door to find him standing there. She stared at him in amazement for a long moment before he almost pushes past her into her house. She shuts the door and quickly moves around him pulling what he thinks is a USB from her laptop but he wasn’t sure as she drops it in her pocket._

_“You care.” He said pointedly to her._

_“Excuse me?” she asked._

_“The archaeologist—” he started._

_“Daniel!” Sam corrected him again._

_“He knew and I think he cared a little but you **care** , a lot more than you’re suppose to about your superior officer’s dead son.” He told her. She tried not to flinch at the familiar phrasing her Jack had used all those years ago. He looked at her, studying her for a moment “You don’t give anything away, do you?” he told her. “I re-watched all the tapes you know and I noticed something, all the others when they talked about my counterpart spoke exactly the same way as they did the rest of the time, there were one or two exceptions—but mostly it was the same, you, though—” he said blinking at her “—you went stiff and in a military mode, well practiced pose, controlled volume and emotions.” He said._

_“ **General** O’Neill was my superior officer, that’s how I should respond.”_

_“But then, there’s how you reacted to me, and how you came, you came to see, and I don’t buy that he was just your superior officer, there’s more going on here then you’re letting on.”_

_“I’m not sure what you mean, **Colonel**.” She replied stoically. _

_He watched her for a moment then shrugged “Okay,” he replied “I’ll just tell your handlers about the USB you just stuffed in your pocket.”_

_“No!” she protested a bit too quickly._

_She closed her eyes knowing her mistake immediately “Interesting you didn’t care about them finding out you came to see me, but you do care about that USB. What’s on it?” he asked her._

_“It's not a USB.” She admitted, bringing it out of her pocket. He stared at it confused_

_“It's a crystal.” He said, confused._

_“Yeah.” She admitted. “They only gave us back a few personal items each.” She admitted “They figured this was just some random crystal, they don’t have the technology to prove otherwise here.” She told him. “I adapted my computer to read the data on it.” She admitted to him._

_He looked amazed at the item “This holds data?” he asked “What kind of data?” he demands._

_“Nothing of importance. Pictures of SG-1, of Cassie and my last command team, just personal pictures.” She told him, the crystal held the pictures of her wedding, of her and Jack snuggling down, every one of them the most precious cargo to survive the shift in realities to her. “Please don’t tell them.” She asked of him. “That's all I have.”_

_He looked at her, the sorrow plain and painful on her face. “Everything?” he asked her._

_She sighed “Couple of pieces of jewelry as well but—” she shrugged. Including the engagement ring which had been in the O’Neill family for four generations if she had been wearing it he was sure to have noticed it, and her wedding band both safely on her bedside table, every night she slipped them on and imagined her Jack beside her. They were on her tags when she went through the Gate as per SOP._

_He held the crystal up and started to play with it in his hands “Okay.” He agreed, making himself comfortable on her sofa, he stayed silent for a couple of minutes looking at the crystal before he said, “But I get to see what’s on here.” He told her._

_“I told you what’s on there.” She objected._

_“There could be more, you could be bluffing I knew on the tapes you were good at it. I can’t even read you.”_

_“Yeah well I was taught by the best.” she told him; her voice dry._

_“You were taught by me, weren’t you?” he asked her. His expression thoughtful._

_“You can’t know what’s on there.” She told him._

_“Why not?” he asked. “Classified?” he asked innocently but without a reply he jumped up “Really?!”_

_“No, not classified, just... personal.” She muttered._

_“Umm,” Jack nodded, “That was the other thing missing about you on those tapes, you never mentioned anything ‘personal’, no boyfriend or husband, no children or brothers and sisters.”_

_“I keep my personal life to myself.” She muttered._

_“Why did you check into an OBGYN clinic?” he asked her._

_She rolled her eyes. She should have known he would have updated himself on the file they had for her. “Thought that would have been obvious.”_

_“You’re pregnant?” he questioned, looking at her still flat stomach, they had been there for over five months, she still looked trim and fit. Not uncommon for military women, especially one as tall as her._

_“I was--” she said quietly, looking away holding back tears. “I miscarried at the beginning of the second trimester.”_

_He looked at her, something akin to sympathy stirred in him. “Were you and the father serious?”_

_She chuckled bitterly and turned her head as she put her chin in her hand._

_“Is he alive here?” he asked her._

_“It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?” she retorted._

_“I suppose not.” he said quietly. “Show me what’s on here.”_

_“I can’t.” she choked._

_“Then I’m sorry I’m going to have to tell them everything.” Jack said, walking past her and almost getting to the door with the crystal._

_“No!” she called after him once his hand hit the knob “Please... don’t” she seemed to almost beg him. He looked at her amazed at her tone before she walked over to him and took the crystal adding “Just remember, you asked to see it.”_

_He followed her more confused than before wondering what it meant as she seemingly without effort put the crystal in a slot she seemed to have created on the laptop “Should I ask?” he said to her before she shrugged._

_The files came up and she said “I can’t watch you watching this.” She said quietly before she exited the room._

_He shook his head of the confusion he felt and sat at the table where the laptop lay._

_At first he wondered what the big deal was, there were pictures on there of their Jack and Daniel along with Sam and a big muscled man with a tattoo on his forehead. They were clearing camping so maybe they were on other planets. There were less of Daniel to start with obviously he had been taking the pictures and he saw just how young Samantha Carter looked in the pictures. Her hair was cut a shorter blonde style more in keeping with the regulations at the time, but there she was just as stunning and beautiful as the woman he had met a handful of times._

_The first time it had happened it had shocked him really. It was a picture of Sam and her O’Neill, by the looks of things she was still quite young in the picture but Daniel had been sitting on the other side of the campfire to them the angle showing the fire in front of the two officers. They were sitting on a log together their thighs touching and they both had a mess cook tin in their hand and a fork in the other and the other O’Neill had leaned over and was whispering in her ear, a grin peaking at his lips, the young Samantha smiling at whatever it was she was hearing. He stared at that picture longer than he should, he didn’t know what it was he was seeing so he moved on, he repeatedly saw the pair in slightly closer quarters than he would expect from a commanding officer and a second in command._

_He looked through the thumbnails and scrolled down not sure of what it was he was looking for, then he found a video and started to play it._

_The camera was sneaking up on a pair who were making out on the sofa, one of them a blond woman (Which didn’t surprise him, that was his type after all) and the O’Neill of that world. O’Neill looked up and pulled away from the women’s lips “Oh hell Danny! No one wants to see that. Switch that thing off!” He demanded._

_“No, no way,” The voice came from behind the camera “I’m a romantic and after all this time it's nice to see.” He said. “It's like Edward and Bella!” he exclaimed._

_This appeared to annoy O’Neill and make the woman break into giggles still not seeing her face. “I’m not sure here, but did he just compare us to some god awful teen fiction?” he asked the woman._

_She finally spoke and he knew the voice immediately, his eyes widening. “I think so.” Sam replied._

_“Danny!” O’Neill exclaimed “Turn it off!”_

_“No.” Danny replied._

_“Yes.” O’Neill insisted._

_“No.” Daniel reflected his insistence._

_“Yes.” O’Neill said with a growl to his voice._

_“No.” Daniel refused again._

_“Danny, for crying out loud!” O’Neill said._

_“Come on. Jack it's cute!” Daniel teased him._

_“Right, that’s it!” O’Neill said standing up._

_The camera man apparently realizing the error of his ways cried “Oh shit!” before he handed the camera to an unseen person and started to run away from O’Neill. The pair ran around the whole room before Daniel grabbed Sam off the sofa and held her in front of him like a human shield._

_“You want to kill me., You have to go through her first.” Daniel said._

_“Hey!” Sam objected._

_“That’s right, Carter, you tell him!” Jack told the other Sam._

_“Daniel, get off me!” Sam objected before she paused between the two men, she smiled sweetly before she turned into Jack, cuddled against him, before she called over to Daniel “I’d run if I were you.”_

_The camera tilted slightly and the O’Neill could be heard saying “She can only be a buffer for so long!”_

_He blinked in shock at what he just saw, then started to open the pictures again, then came to an almighty halt at a picture of Sam in a wedding dress, her shorter blond hair in soft curls and one of him in his dress blues, every medal, and on his shoulders lay two stars. “Two stars!” he gawked, not believing what he was seeing._

_Jack clicked off just in time for Sam to walk in the room. “I was your husband.” He said to her._

_“No.” Sam shook her head “You are not my husband.” She objected “Evidence is clear to me as it is you. The Jack O’Neill in my timeline was my husband, but you’re not him.”_

_Jack swallowed regretting every harsh tone he had taken with her. Every glare of unbelief, every time the work ‘freak’ had left his mouth in relation to her. He looked to her stomach then looked her in the eyes “So the kid?” he asked her._

_“Was my Jack’s, not yours.” She told him stubbornly._

_“That’s one hell of a technicality!” he started._

_“No it isn’t! You’re not him, you look at me and in your eyes, I don’t see my Jack at all! You’re cold to the core! You didn’t even listen to us! My Jack would have listened and tried to understand!”_

_“You don’t--”_

_“I do know it! Of all the people in the universe I know what my Jack would do!” she cried “Don’t you dare try to tell me I didn’t know my husband! My Jack went to hell and back when he lost his son, it was only then he was cold and angry, you got there all on your own anyway. My Jack was sweet and loving, he was smart and intelligent and he took care of the people around him.” She took a deep breath and swayed a little. “I miss him, I miss his voice, I miss his jokes, his really bad jokes that could make me laugh every time no matter what. I miss the way he would smile at me because he knew I would get it! He’d do it every day, every time! I miss the way he holds me in bed! I miss the way he would have been next to me watching when the strip turned pink! I miss the way he would have smiled at the ultrasounds and hearing our baby’s heartbeat. I miss that he would have held me and whispered to me when I lost our child!” she ranted at a rather sorry looking Jack O’Neill. “You don’t get to take him away from me! No one here does, that’s why I told no one, that’s why I didn’t say. I have one truth to keep a hold of in this hell, and that is **my** Jack and if we ever make it back I will save him!”_

_Jack swallowed remembering their story of getting to ‘the gate’. “You didn’t want to leave him.”_

_She looked away and shrugged “I wanted to stay,” she said quietly “fade into oblivion and stay with my dead husband.” she shook her head “but no, I was dragged away from the man I love into this living hell. First I lose him… then I lost our baby.”_

_Jack looked at her, her face red, her eyes matched her skin, her blue eyes showing the deeper pain inside, he felt bad for her, if the accident never had happened, she probably would have the baby. He wondered what caused the miscarriage, stress, depression, a bit of both._

“He did leave, eventually, promising not to tell them anything, I told him I was bored but I couldn’t get a real job. I told him about my bikes back home, my cars. He came around a couple of weeks later with a beat up old Indian to work on, he suggested he stick around and help out, he liked that sort of thing too. Just like you do.”

“He was in love with you.” Jack said quietly. “He wouldn’t have come back if he wasn’t.” Jack knew himself, even depressed he’d have been instantly attracted to Sam.

“He wasn’t you.” Sam said quietly. “He turned out to be a good friend, I don’t know if I would have made it through the year without him.” She admitted. “He was a lot like you—but not you.” She whispered.

“Weren’t you tempted?” he asked Sam softly.

“Were you?” she asked him, remembering all those years ago.

His mouth opened in surprise, eyebrows raised for a second “I did kiss her. Did you?”

Sam shrugged and looked a little guilty. “There was once.”

“And?” he asked, a smirk playing at his mouth.

“I burst out crying.” she admitted.

“You cried?” Jack asked her.

“He didn’t kiss like you…” she said quietly “I was wanting you one night and we’d been drinking and… we kissed and...” she shrugged going pink then said quietly “but they weren’t your kisses. I cheated on you!” she cried.

“Sam!” he reprimanded softly. “No, Samantha, you kissed Jack O’Neill.”

“I’m married to _you_.” She told him.

“My Sam.” He said bringing her in more. “Don’t feel guilty, I probably would have slept with any Sam Carter I could get a hold of in any universe. A year, a **year**! And one measly little kiss… We did more than that when it was against regulations.”

“I’m sorry.” she whispered.

“Don’t be.” he said evenly. “Did um--did he enjoy it?” Jack asked her, his face a study of curiosity. She blushed further “Samantha Carter, seducer of Jack O’Neill’s no matter which universe she’s in.” He says grinning. “Not that it’s difficult. I adore you no matter what reality we’re in.”

There was the humor she’d so missed about the other Jack. She laughed before she sighed a little and snuggled in “I love you Jack, just hold me like this for the rest of the night.” She asked him.


	4. Sugar Sweet Lovey Dovey

Sam was sitting in her lab when Jack wandered in. “Carter.” He said with a grin by way of greeting from the doorframe.

“Oh hey, sir. I was gonna call you actually. I got that artifact back from P4X-119 and I thought you might be interested in it.”

“Is it a big honkin’ space gun?” He asked her hopefully.

“No but it _is_ a weapon… of sorts.”

“Oh?”

“Yup.”

“And so? Therefore?”

She grins and pulls out the weapon from a part bin. “If you press this button here… it emits a piercingly painful sound.”

“Like Vala when she’s excited.” Jack says nodding.

Sam makes a very insubordinate face at him.

Jack grins. “How yah feeling?”

“Like I’ve been knocked up with twins by a dirty old man.” She tells him, dryly.

“Ouch…” He winks though. “Well, if that’s all you’ve got, I have to go pretend to work. See yah around… Buttercup.” He dodges the ball of paper she expertly fires at his head and laughs walking down the hall.

If there was one thing Sam hated… it was pet names. He could call her sweetheart if he was doing a Harrison Ford impression and once in a while he got schmaltzy and called her my love because Princess bride quoted ‘my dearest love’ was a bit too far into the eye roll range… but they didn’t use pet names. She’d been so annoyed with Pete’s use of ‘babe’ all the time that Jack had just avoided the issue entirely… except when he wanted to start a war of attrition.

It was on… It was sooooo on.

Sam turned in her paperwork to Walter to file. It amazed her that all these years later they still had to file physical paperwork. She really needed to get on Jack’s ass about that. What good was it to be married to one of the Joint Chiefs if she couldn’t push her personal agenda about not killing any more trees. Trees he happened to love.

Several of the reports were marked specifically to go to Jack’s desk as he was camping out in a conference room upstairs. DC had gotten tired of him escaping every chance he got and just caved and let him move back to Colorado to be close to Peterson and the SGC.

Several of the files marked for Jack had ‘sign here’ tags on them. The kind that had a little line under to indicate which signee was to add their John Hancock. Sam had written ‘Sugar Boopie’ on each of them. Honestly writing it had made her want to vomit so she knew it was especially obnoxious.

She went back to her lab to await his response.

An hour later flowers showed up in her lab. How did he manage to get flowers in under an hour? Most of it was Tansy[1], but there was also heliotrope[2] and several columbine[3]. Sam looked them up and giggled helplessly. Then she read the card. “For my beloved Shmoopie.” With a smile bordering on evil Sam made a phone call.

Jack was in a meeting with Hank and the head of the DOD when an airman delivered balloons to his office. Very… large… balloons.

Having been on the receiving end of Jack’s nonsense, Hank chose not to resist the urge to read the tag on the balloons out loud in spite of Jack’s death looks. Sometimes putting your friends in charge of things backfires, Jack thinks as Hank clears his throat. “Congratulations Sweetums. Your loving wife.”

Jack sighs while General Maples snickered.

“Very nice, wouldn’t you say sir?” Hank asks Mike.

“Extremely sweet.” Mike Maples agrees. “You’re in deep again, aren’t you Jack?”

“Yah… I should have kept my big yap shut.” He admits to the other man.

Mike chuckles at Hank’s mystified “Huh?”

“She’s never that nice.” Mike supplied.

“Are we talking about the same person?” Hank asks the other two men. Sam, their Sam? Literally the nicest though arguably most baffling person he knew. That Sam?

“Word to the wise Hank… Never get on Sam’s bad side.” General Maples tells Hank Landry.

Hank looks to Jack who nods in agreement. A part of him admired her brass balls for having those delivered to his office knowing who was going to be here today. Jack had always admired her brass ones though. Her ability to stand up to literally anyone when the need arose was a huge portion of what he loved most about her. He was still going to get even though. Oh her was getting even… but first… he’d lull her into a false sense of security.

* * *

Three days later Sam walked into her lab absently rubbing at her stomach. At least one of the twins was hyper like its father. She’d need to watch her sugar intake if one or both of them was going to kick the crap out of her every time she had a Danish. She’d had to start swiping Jack’s old BDU pants as hers were getting tight. Her chest felt like it had grown three sizes and she hadn’t exactly been small busted in the first place. She waited for the bellowing. It didn’t take long.

“Carter!”

Sam grinned for a second but erased it quickly. Jack storms into her lab, her face a cross between highly amused and highly irate.

“Do you have _any_ idea how long it’s going to take me to get rid of all that?”

“All what” She asks him innocently.

He shakes his hand and a pile of glitter floats to the floor, he at least keeps away from her diagnostic equipment. “That!” He demands.

“Huh,” Sam says to him, feigning professional interest. “You sure it wasn’t Cam or Daniel?”  
“Neither Cameron nor Daniel has _ever_ called me ‘Sugar Lips’ in pink glitter Carter.”

Val flounced into Sam’s lab. “Oh hey sugar lips.” She says cheerfully to Jack who shakes more glitter from his sleeve and storms out.

Sam and Vala purse their lips until he’s out of sight and collapse in laughter. They give each other high fives and continue laughing.

“He’s really mad.” Vala observes.

“Yup.”

“There will be retaliation, won’t there?” Vala asks her cheerfully.

“Oh yah.”

“I can’t wait darling. I’m starving. Let’s go get breakfast.”

Sam grins. “These two are always starving.” She admits.

“And just think… only seventeen more weeks to go.” Vala says as they leave the lab. Sam closes and locks the blast door.

“I can’t believe I’m at the halfway point already.”

“When did Hank say you had to go on leave?”

“If things get hot or I start becoming a safety hazard.” Sam admitted.

They rode the elevator up a couple floors to the commissary. “I notice with Jack back on base the food improved again.”

“Yah he wasn’t a fan of mystery loaf.” Sam turns a little green. “I don’t think I am either.”

“Morning sickness is supposed to go away.”

“It’s not that… it’s food aversion… smells… things like that.” Sam says absently to Vala as they pick out items on the racks. A server plunks scrambled eggs with Spam on both their trays. They sat down at SG-1’s usual table.

“So what’s it like having him back on base again?” Vala asked of Jack’s new office set up on the conference room floors away from the SGC but not in NORAD’s space either.

“Mostly he’s too busy to get underfoot so he’s not in my lab all the time like he used to be but I won’t lie, it’s a little nice to have him around again. Washington didn’t really need him there. Everything he oversees: NORAD, SGC, Groom Lake, Peterson, the Utah facility are all right in this general area.” Sam shrugged and dug into her reconstituted eggs and fake meat.

** _Colonel Carter to the entry dock. Colonel Carter, please report to the entry dock_.**

“Did you order a new toy?” Vala asks her in amusement. Sometimes the bigger equipment had to be signed for before they would run it down the freight elevator.

“Not recently.” Sam says mystified. Getting up, she leaves her tray, figuring they paged the wrong person but knowing nothing short of her going up and sorting it out herself would help.

When the elevator door spread however there was no package. “All right, corporal… I can guess but who’s the jokester?”

“Ma’am?”

A skinny slightly sleazy looking short swarthy man comes out from a supply closet playing stripper music and starts taking off his clothes.

“Okay… that’s enough. Corporal… feel free to do something with the ah…. Entertainment. I imagine the girls on level three will love him.” She tells the painfully young marine at the sign in desk.

“Uh.. but I’m supposed to be dancing for a Colonel hot ass.” The stripper says, gyrating his hips in her direction.

“Yah that’s not happening.” Sam replies, turning back to the elevator only to see her husband standing there with an amused smirk on his face. “General.” She snarls.

“Nice gift you got Colonel.” He’d been surprised you could get a stripper on such short notice on a Monday but he was clearly not their top gig… which had been the point.

“Yah. I can’t imagine who sent it.” She says with an eye roll.

“Walk with me.” He orders, taking her elbow. Once out of earshot and sight range of the guards, she pulls her elbow from his grasp.

She rounded on him and hissed. “Listen, cuddle cakes… hasn’t this gone a bit far?”

“Really, Boo bear? You glitter bombed my office.”

“You sent a male hooker.”

“Stripper.”

“That man has a side job. He’s skeezier than a corner crack ho, Jack.”

“Fine, sugar tits.”

“Fine, studly.”

They glared at each other a moment. “Want me to sign us out so we can go home and rip each other’s clothes off?”

“You betcha.” She told him. He’d been in DC over the weekend leaving her and Vala free to break into his office Sunday afternoon.

Jack gives her a short nod and marches back to the half moon entrance to the Cheyenne facility, signs himself out, signs her out by proxy and marches back out.

_[1] Tansy - Hostile thoughts, declaring war_

_[2] Heliotrope - Eternal love, devotion_

_[3] Columbine - Foolishness, folly_


	5. Man of the hour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay. I have been doing yard work since sun up  
> Chapter 5 brought to us by ONeillwith2ls

“Sam?” Jack called as he entered the house, bag in hand. “You still awake?”

“Ya, I’m in here,”

He frowned a little at the sound of her voice. Something was wrong. He followed where her voice was coming from and , finding her in the living room, curled up on the sofa, tears falling down her face.

“Hey.” He said coming over sitting down and wrapping his arm around her “What is it?”

She started sobbing again “They—they had a house and he—and they—it's all so pretty!” She cried.

Jack looked at the TV screen, “Sam, these are reruns.” He observed.

“So?” she asked wiping her eyes. “It doesn’t make the story any less nicer.” She told him The plot. “The father died and the mother is left with four kids—two who have medical issues and she’s been working so hard—” she sobbed again “It's just so nice!” she exclaimed.

“O-Kay, no more reality TV makeover shows for you.” He said switching the TV over to another channel.

“Don’t worry, I also cried at the commercials earlier.” She muttered. “My hormones are everywhere.” She looked at him with a concerned look on her face for a moment “I can’t imagine doing this without you!” she cried, leaning into him.

He stroked her hair gently as he cradled her in his arms. Despite the fact that, by some impossible physics, she again carried the child she lost, but had also endured a miscarriage of their child alone, in a parallel reality, having already watched him die in front of her eyes. She had known the real pain of losing a child and a husband, yet here she was sobbing over a television show. He loved her with all of him; he couldn’t imagine the pain she felt being torn away from him like that.

It had sounded like something he would do - telling her to go. Her ever faithful response “Not without you.” had echoed in his mind. Their vow made long before marriage of never leaving the other behind foremost in their hearts as he had ordered her to break it. He was glad Mitchell had dragged her to the gate, but the pain she must had felt—of losing him then losing their child -- he’d do anything to have been there for her in those moments.

“Hey, hey not long now huh?” He said, stroking her rounded stomach, hoping to take both their minds to a happier place.

“Yah, 37 weeks.” She smiled as he kissed her bump. “Do you think they really will deliver next week?” she asked him.

“Yah I do.” He said his hand remaining on her stomach. He grinned as he felt a kick against his palm. Jack slid down further and talked to her stomach “You giving your mamma guff, kids?” he asked. “Pipe down.”

Sam laughed. Jack had been amazing through the pregnancy, indulging every last craving, even going out in the middle of the night without a complaint of being too tired although she knew he must be. She felt as big as a house yet when she watched him stroking her stomach like he was right now, talking to them so lovingly, and his attentiveness to her was just astronomical as her fears were soothed.

“Did you get ‘em?” she asked him.

“Fiery hot gherkins.” He said, reaching for the bag he’d dropped beside him.

“Yessss!” she exclaimed happily looking in the bag “Aww!” she said with a smile “Ben and Jerrys!”

He jumped up and went into the kitchen “I figured the milk would soothe the heartburn.” He said with a smile getting the fork putting away the ice cream, “Plus I get some too.” He said cheekily.

“Absolutely.” She said smiling widely, her dimples showing. “Oh a package came today, it’s on the table—” He turned and took the box and smiled “Are you expecting something?” she asked.

Grinning, he fished his military knife from his pocket, opened the package with a deft slit to the seams. “They came on time!” he exclaimed happily.

“What?” she asked them “What are they?”

Package in hand, he returned to the worn but sturdy couch and passed her a fork just as she dipped her fingers in the jar.

“Do that and you’ll sting for days.” He pointed out as she accepted the fork with an amused look. Jack was, by his very nature, ridiculously sweet and thoughtful and she still couldn’t get over it.

“My hero!” she said with a smile and a kiss on his lips for him before she settled back down and dug her fork into the jar. “So?” She asked him, looking curiously at the box as he returned to her side

“Look,” He said, pulling out a t- shirt in camouflage green with ‘Daddy’s girl’ and one saying ‘future ladies’ man, current mama's boy’ on them, along with a camouflage skirt, hairband, a mini baseball hat in camo and trousers. She looked up and saw a smile as wide as she had ever seen on his face.

“Jack!” she laughed.

“I figured if I got a daddy’s girl and then a mama’s boy t-shirt it's not so sexist and they’re only babies once.”

“Jack, they are freaking adorable!” she laughed.

“And these...” He said, pulling a huge bag of camouflage baby clothes out “Are unisex, see!” he exclaimed.

“Were they expensive?” She asked, amazed.

He shrugged “Not enough to worry about. I got some in each size for their first year but they’re on back order.” He grinned. “We said no to frills not to camo.”

She continued to giggle at his bright smile and then put her jar of pickles down on the table. “Help me up?” she asked him, her hand coming out beside her. He pulled her up. Reaching up, she smiled and gave him a quick kiss. “I really love them, thank you.”

He smirked a little and asked “The clothes or the twins?” he asked her as they sat back down.

She shrugged with a twinkle in her eyes as she settled again beside him and reached for her pickles.

“Feet.” He said to her.

She smiled and shuffled a little, laying her feet across his knees as he started rubbing them.

“Mmmmm” She closed her eyes in bliss “Oh my god!”

“How are they today?” he asked her.

“My feet or the twins?” she asked, receiving a small chuckle from him.

“Well both, but I was specifically talking about your feet.” He replied.

“Sore. I only walked on the Garden of the Gods trail for a little while—” she started munching happily on her gherkins.

“Oh only.” He grinned, “Five miles is still five miles when you’re pregnant even if it is an easy trail.”

“I didn’t do the whole five miles, and what else am I supposed to do?” she asked him. “I can’t fit under my car anymore, I can’t sit on my motorcycle, and even if I could I doubt they do maternity leather pants.” She mumbled which made him chuckle more. “I can’t come to work because I’m freaking out every airman in the place every time I move because they think I’m going to go into labor at any moment, so much so Landry practically ordered me home.”

“You only stopped working a week ago, Sam, with twins, that’s a small window—”

“And I can’t play with any classified doohickeys—” she protested.

“Are you bored by chance?” he grinned. His wife wasn’t any better at sitting still than he was.

“Extremely and chronically.” She sighed “and I’m so fat I can’t even see my toes.”

“Sam, you’re not fat – you’re just very heavily pregnant. With twins might I add. You carry the weight the same way you do everything else, beautifully, with confidence and grace.”

He didn’t see her watching him for a few minutes as something on the television caught his eye, so he didn’t see the happy and contented smile on her face, which quickly turned to something more.

Jack looked down at the foot now curled around his crotch, rubbing it gently. “Ummm, Sam, do you know where that foot is?” he asked her.

“Unless your side arm has figured out how to grow while being touched I say I’m right on target.”

He hissed as her toes curled round a tighter grip his head rolled back and his eyes closed. “Carrrttterrr!” he warned.

“Ummm hmmm?” she gave him a covertly flirtatious smile.

He growled lightly “Are you sure?” She made herself entirely clear when he received another squeeze to his crotch.

It didn’t take long for him to pull her from the sofa and into the bedroom.

Jack never minded showering Sam and their babies with gifts. He had missed so much with Charlie and he was determined that this time, he wouldn’t repeat his past mistakes.

When he learned Sam was pregnant, he’d arranged to work out of Peterson, insisting the Pentagon really didn’t need another pencil pushing General and he would come to D.C for the really “important” stuff. He was relieved when the President and other Joint Chiefs approved the arrangement. The Peterson staff looked at him surprised when he turned up his first day there, dressed in his BDU’s and his two stars on his shoulders. Now, he was just across town from the Cheyenne Mountain facility where most of the staff there knew how he earned those two stars, unlike Peterson staff who were terrified of possibly the softest General in the fleet. As such, he was able to drop by Cheyenne Mountain more times than he’d admit to see his pregnant wife and play pranks on his best friend.

When they had strongly advised Sam to start her maternity leave at the end of last week, Sam had come home as if she had been fired. She had made a quip about being glad she never had to wear ‘hideous’ maternity dresses’, preferring the maternity BDU’s pants and a civilian maternity top, but he could tell she was disappointed. She had agreed to the six weeks paid maternity leave and would take some of her yearly leave for once much to Jack’s personal relief.

He stood in front of her in the shower his hands on her bump, feeling the two still active and moving around. He smiled. “Something has them on the move.”

“They can hear daddy.” She smiled, her eyes not leaving him.

“Are they not hurting you yet?” he asked her.

She chuckled “No, other than Braxton Hicks, not really, it’s a bit uncomfortable when they hit an organ, and it feels odd, knowing there’s two someone else’s moving in there, but no not—” she started but paused mid-sentence her face wincing in pain. “Oh, ow!” she complained “Oh that one did!” she exclaimed.

“You need out of here?” he asked her, looking at her concerned.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, feeling a stronger trickle down her leg “My water!” she exclaimed.

“It just broke?” he asked her.

“Oh ya!” she said, moving slightly, feeling another gush. “Oh!” she said surprised as more amniotic fluid poured out. She looked at him and said, “You better get dried off.” She told him “I think—” she started then held her bump again “We need to be dressed when we get to base.” She grinned.

“Right!” He exclaimed, almost tripping out of the shower himself.

“Jack!” Sam panicked.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” He assured her, pretending the wack to his knee didn’t hurt like the sonofabitch it did..

“You better be. I’m not raising these two on my own!” she quipped.

He smiled, tying the towel around him and he looked again at her, her face contoured in concentration. “I’ve got you, Sam.” He whispered to her.

“Jack, they’re coming!” Sam said brightly.

“And you have the best doctors to take care of you. I made sure of that myself.” He said with a grin.

“Carolyn is great—” Sam admitted “Even if she’s not Janet.” She said, stepping out the shower feeling more fluid slither down her legs “Oh God! How much of this is water!” she exclaimed as Jack wrapped her up. “I’m getting it everywhere!” she complained.

Jack chuckled “Sam, you’re having our babies. You can get as much water as you like anywhere.” He said with a kiss to her. “Come on, let's get dressed.”

A rare hush filled the room at the SGC infirmary. The only sounds heard were the squeals of two small babies. Having been summoned by Jack, the other two original members of SG1 entered the private room to find a tired but content Sam lying in bed, with her two babies wrapped up on her chest. Sam looked up as they entered and smiled. Daniel held two balloons, one pink and one blue with “It’s a...” message on them. Teal’c had two teddy bears one dressed in female dress blues and the other a male dress blues in his arms. Initailly Jack had presumed both babies would be girls but her ultrasound had revealed the second baby would be a boy. Sam gave him a convoluted mathematically sound reason why both babies weren’t the same gender that Jack had sat through just to listen to her talk.

“We figured since we could only have two in at a time you two be first.” Jack told them as he tenderly kissed Sam on the forehead.

“How are you, Sam?” Daniel asked her softly, seeing the soft glow from Sam as she held her babies to her.

“I’m hurting everywhere.” She admitted “but these are the best results of pain I’ve ever had.” She said with a smile.

“Indeed they are, Colonel Carter.” Teal’c observed handing her the teddy’s, she smiled by way of thanks.

“Jack, can you—” she asked him.

He leaned forward and took his baby girl in his arms. “Guys, I’d like you to meet my little lady, Janet Grace Carter-O’Neill.”

“And my little man Jacob Harold Carter-O’Neill.” Sam said peering down at her son, touched that Jack had given the boy his grandfather’s name even if he did share it with Maybourne.

“They’re so small!” Daniel exclaimed coming over to Jack and taking a closer look at his daughter.

“Felt big to me.” Sam chuckled.

“You nailed it, Sam.” Jack smiled. “Grace was five and a half pounds and Jacob was five pounds on the dot.”

“They’ll need to stay on base until full term.” Sam said.

“We get to stay on base too. Carolyn said they probably only need a week here but she’d feel better if we stay on base for two.” Jack told them.

Daniel smiled “Looks like SG-1 have two new members.” They all looked at each other pensively “Who’d had thought when we started all those years ago it would turn out like this.”

“Ah don’t get sappy, Danny.” Jack admonished him gruffly, though the other three members of SG-1 could see the tears forming in his eyes.

Sam yawned and looked around. “Sorry guys.”

“Looks like our time is up.” Daniel said with a smile he leaned over Sam and gave her a kiss on the forehead “Congratulations Sam, I mean it, you’ve made him happier than I could have ever imagined.” He whispered to her. Sam’s hand stroked Daniel’s fondly before he stepped away “They really are gorgeous.” Daniel said then looked at Jack with a grin “Must take after their mother.”

“Get outta here!” Jack reprimanded Daniel playfully as they left the room.

“I need to clean up.” Sam said softly to Jack. He nodded and helped by pulling her up gently. She smiled at his actions, holding on to one arm as he helped her across the room “Ouch.” She whispered. She complained quietly.

“Now you complain?” he asked her as they walked into the small shower area in the infirmary.

“Well I’m not hiked up on some kind of morphine now.” She joked.

He sat her down on the toilet seat and still holding Grace, he started a shower running for her. “Do you need help getting in?” he asked her.

“No.” She shook her head, “This is fine.” She looked at him wondering if he could take the Jacob too.

“Here.” He said gently moving his daughter onto one arm then reaching out with his other for his son.

“You’re a pro.” Sam said with a smile as he cradled them both.

“I had practice.” He said with a smile hushing his son as he cried at the motion. “Come on,” he said hushing his fussing son, “Let's leave momma to bathe in peace for the first time in months and last time in years,” he smiled seeing his son pull a face that looked like a smile “ya—oh ya you like that one, huh, buddy?” he smiled.

“Jack are you sure you can handle—” she started.

“I’ve got ‘em, Carter, enjoy your shower.”


	6. New To You and You too

“Ready to go?” Jack asked her, checking the VIP room they camped out in for two weeks while Sam recovered from delivery and the twins had come to grow to full term size. There had been a few bumps. Carolyn had to call in a lactation expert friend when one of Sam’s breasts had developed mastitis after her milk had come in so suddenly she looked like she was sporting a pair of torpedoes on her chest for most of two days. Then Jake had gone on a forty eight hour inconsolable crying jag. One of the girls in tech support had come to the rescue with something she called ‘gripe water’ and gifted Sam with the ingredients to make her own when they went home.

Gracie was a happy docile baby content to snuggle and nurse twenty four seven. Jake stared at everything in fascination as though he was amazed at everything he saw which Jack supposed was reasonable all things considered. He was new to all of this after all.

Sam nodded at him as she lifted Jake into her arms then passed him to Jack so she could change Grace. He’d gained a solid pound as had Grace in the last two weeks and Carolyn was satisfied enough with their progress to let everyone go home.

Home. Jack smiled happily. Once it had been just a house he bought to fix up; something to do while he plinked away at finishing another degree and stared at the stars, looking for Daniel. Then it had been a haven for all of them through the years. Daniel those first months without his wife, them drinking in solidarity over their lost loves. For Sam, those days after she’d had to shoot Marty to save everyone else and he’d not trusted her to go home alone. They had been perilously close to breaking the rules then and it had been the start of late nights on the roof casually making out and telling each other with their eyes how they felt. It was only a year later that Orlin had finally been a tipping point. Well, Orlin and Bub’s harping on them both about what the military doesn’t know won’t hurt them.

They had still almost messed things up when Sam needed assurance that Jack wasn’t giving her that this was more than just avoiding getting their hearts broken by someone else. Wait, no. He had almost messed up. Sam had just wanted to know he loved her and he’d been a coward and not told her he did.

Jack smiled down at the tiny bright eyed baby in his arms. “It worked out though, didn’t it, little buddy?” He said softly to his son who yawned at him in apparent boredom.

“What was that, Jack?” Sam asked him absently.

“Nothing. Just having a man to man talk with our son.” Jack grinned. Our son. His heart swelled at the words. When he’d realized he wanted Sam, wanted a life with her, he’d dreamed of them having kids together. Twins hadn’t been any of the dreams but it sure saved time. Now if Sam didn’t want any more kids they had one of each. Done and done.

“Teal’c talked some of the SFs into taking our bags to the van so all we have to do is load up these guys and go.”

“It was nice of him to loan us the SUV.” Jack agreed. “The truck is a hog and it’s too hard to fit infant seats into the jump seats in the back.”

“We’ll have to look into buying one of our own.” Sam agreed.

“Yah, and a bigger house. I know we both love the Craftsman, Sam, but the kids can’t share a bedroom forever.”

Sam sighs. “I know, Jack, it’s just…” A tear rolls down her cheek followed by another. “Stupid hormones.” She mumbles.

Jack sat down next to her on the bed. “Sam… we all love that house. If you really want to keep it in the family why don’t we rent it out for a while until Cassie moves back home. She’d be a good fit for the microbiology lab on twenty five.” He cajoles. “I bet she’d like having a whole house to herself.”

“I bet she’d like having sex with her latest fling on that observation deck.” Sam counters.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that.” Jack growls which makes Sam giggle.

“Sir, Ma’am, I’ll grab these last few bags and Mr. Teal’c’s SUV is loaded and ready for you to leave.”

“Thank you, airman.” Jack said. “We don’t have to decide today. We both have enough savings that we could just continue renting out the bungalow to short term base assignments and mothball our house and just go buy something bigger.”

“All right.” She agrees “I supposed we don’t need to decide until we find another house anyway.” Everything they had looked at the last few months had been traditional and bland. Their realtor didn’t seem to understand their taste. When they had said not traditional they were shown ultra modern homes that weren’t any more to their liking as the bland cookie cutter houses that had been erected like mushrooms in the night in the 1960s.

“Let’s go home.” Jack said with a smile and helped her up off the bed one handed as Jake was snoozing in his other shoulder.

Sam gave him one of the beaming smiles she saved just for him and it took his breath away as it always did.

* * *

Back at the craftsman house Sam had recently been tearful at the idea of selling, a large Jaffa tried to herd cats. Except his cats were random SGC staff, a college student, and one very easily amused part timer and his son. The food had been delivered but Bill Lee was trying too hard to make the kitchen table look like something from a home and garden magazine. There were simply far too many balloons to be safe in the entry hallway and people were milling around aimlessly now that the house was clean. As imperturbable as Teal’c was… he was extremely close to being perturbed. He moved several of the balloons to the den and ordered everyone to be silent as he heard his SUV rolling into the driveway. Everyone else was parked around the block.

The front door swung open after a rattle of keys. Sam had put her foot down about Jack’s terrible habit of never locking up the house when he was gone. When the door opened, most of the guests poked their heads out and whispered ‘surprise’ at them. Whispered because Teal’c had admonished every single one of them _not_ to scare the babies.

Sam grinned. Then cried. Then apologized for crying. Jack would have ordered her to stop crying but Daniel was hugging him and he was just as touched that they were being thrown a party as Sam was and he couldn’t blame hormones for the sting in his eyes.

“It is with great pleasure we welcome home baby Grace and baby Jacob O’Neill. I speak for all of us in our deep regard for your children, Samantha and O’Neill. It has been a long time in coming.” Teal’c told them.

“Hear hear!” Daniel said and everyone let up a soft cheer or clapped.

“All right, let’s get you all inside.” Vala says to Jack and Sam as she shoos people out of the hallway and takes one of the baby carriers. She and Sam had a bit of a talk about this. The Ori had done something to Vala making her unable to have any further children without the aid of Lantian technology that Sam was still working on deciphering. She’d have more time now of course. In the meantime, Vala had lived vicariously through the birth of the twins and had every intention of being their favorite auntie.

Jack wordlessly handed her a baby carrier so he could help Sam out of her coat. The other baby carrier was handed to Teal’c who had efficiently extracted his goddaughter from her car seat and was busy making silly faces at her. All of SG-1 were the twins godparents. If Jack was going to guess though, Teal’c and Vala would be taking their roles the most seriously. Nothing against Daniel or Cam… but some people love kids and some people just tolerate them. But rather than offend anyone… Jack and Sam had just rolled with the idea of everyone knowing full well who would be doing the actual work.

That’s why an hour later when Jake started to fuss and Jack got up to change him Daniel offered to do it himself. Jack exchanged a look with Carter. She shrugged minutely and screwed up her face in a ‘it’s his funeral’ expression.

Danny carefully held Jack against him as he walked up the stairs so Jack figured… so far… so good. He’d either been watching Teal’c and himself or he’d actually learned something in the last few years with all the refugees the SGC had relocated.

Things didn’t start to go south until Jack stepped back and just let him have at it. First, Daniel forgot the logistics of squirming infant vs. diaper pack three feet away. He supposed he shouldn’t tell Sam about Daniel moving away staring at the baby while blindly reaching for a diaper. He was guilty of that one too. When Danny finally gets the onesie unsnapped on the bottom after struggling with it a bit he learns diapers are a lot easier than the first time Jack was a dad. They have Velcro tabs instead of the horrible if you screw up the whole diaper is garbage now glue tabs of his younger years.

Danny actually manages to get the diaper undone just fine. The tactical error he makes however involves remembering Jake is a boy. When he pulls the diaper down, a pale yellow stream nails him right in the chin.

“Gah!” Daniel yelps and flails helplessly trying to recover the offending tactical urine.

Jack presses his lips together desperately trying not to laugh.

With a sigh, Daniel peeks to make sure Jake is done this time and throws the diaper in the pail with a disgusted shake of his head. He grabs a wipe and cleans up Jake, making sure to be careful of the clip on his umbilical cord.

“You need to grease up his wiener Danny.”

“Uh… what?” Jake started to fuss while Daniel struggled with the baby and diaper.

“Carter says no baby powder. It’s bad for them, so you need to put a little of that grease on him so he doesn’t get a rash there.”

“Yah, I suppose that would hurt more there than anywhere else.” Daniel says, wincing at the idea of having a painful rash on his equipment. Daniel fought with his legs trying to get the petroleum jelly on his tiny wiener and in a move that actually made Jack proud… picked up the baby and cuddled him against his chest when he started crying inconsolably, figuring his shirt already had pee on it anyway.

Jake had other plans though. With a contented little grunt, Daniel found his hand filled with hot sticky poop that plopped out between his fingers. Daniel sighed in defeat and handed Jack the baby.

“Shirts are in the top left drawer.” Jack called after him helpfully. He received a crap covered middle finger as his response as Daniel walked away.

Chuckling, Jack cleaned up Jake. “Well, he tried anyway, buddy.” He tells his son who is cooing at him. Jack’s heart melted once again. Jake’s dark blue eyes were as clear as his mother’s. Jack wondered if they would stay that color since Grace’s were already turning to hazel. “Didn’t he?” Jack asked him laying Jake down on the changing table again. Jake gave him what looked like a sly grin. “Oh, were you playing a prank on Uncie Danny.” Jack laughed when his son let out a high pitched squeak. “Oh, you did, huh?” He chuckled watching Jake's bright eyes never leaving his own.

‘Sam made ridiculously cute babies.’ He mused as his heart swelled looking in his youngest child’s eyes.

  
  



End file.
